Conventionally, various forms of an input device for a mobile device have been provided. In particular, the input device may receive an input from a user via a manual operation or voice recognition or both. For example, Japanese patent No. 4,805,279 (U.S. Pat. No. 8,280,742) discloses such an input device.
Some vehicular terminals, such as a navigation apparatus, may have an input restriction function (i.e., a travel-related compulsory function) that restricts some operations performed as a manual operation by a user, such as a destination setting, during vehicle travel in order to prevent the driver from being distracted. On the other hand, certain operations may not be restricted. For example, an operation of a “current position” button for displaying a subject vehicle mark on a map may not be restricted even when such operation is performed by the user during vehicle travel. However, an operation for inputting a search condition for a destination search will most likely be restricted during vehicle travel.
In the event the vehicle stops at a red signal and the driver starts inputting a condition for performing a destination search by manual operation, the driver may not be able to complete the manual operation before the light turns green. In other words, if the vehicle starts to travel before the input of the condition is complete, the travel-related compulsory function kicks in (i.e., is put in effect) and the destination search screen is kept “frozen” on the display, such that the condition may not be inputted.
In such a case, if the driver presses the “current position” button, a map screen will be displayed. However, search conditions that were inputted before the travel-relate compulsory function began may be discarded. Therefore, the driver has to re-input the search conditions from scratch after stopping the vehicle, which is inconvenient for the driver.